‘Our American priests and deacons should be picking their own bishops’

Last updated on: October 16, 2018 at 12:36 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

This is an idea getting more and more traction—and now it’s popped up on The New York Times op-ed page, from Daniel E. Burns, an associate professor of politics at the University of Dallas and a fellow at the Catholic University of America’s Institute for Human Ecology: The recent revelations of corruption, abuse and neglect within the Catholic Church hierarchy have been a trial for every American Catholic. Abuse victims and their families have suffered unspeakably. Next to them, the greatest sufferers... Read more

What’s the best/worst thing the Catholic Church has done? Listen to what youth in Rome have to say

Last updated on: October 15, 2018 at 7:46 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

This is worth your time, via Word on Fire. If bishops aren’t listening to voices like these, they should be. Check it out below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dReRv67lukY Read more

Don’t believe everything you see: the astonishing advances of ‘deepfake’ videos

Last updated on: October 15, 2018 at 12:56 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

An amazing and disturbing glimpse at how technology is making fiction appear to be fact, via The Wall Street Journal. Watch the video below. Read more

WATCH: A glimpse inside The Troops of St. George, a Catholic alternative to the Boy Scouts

Last updated on: October 15, 2018 at 12:24 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

A few months back, I posted on the growth of the Troops of St. George, a Catholic alternative to the Boy Scouts. The organization has just produced a series of short videos about the apostolate. One includes an overview of the group: Another features the perspective of fathers: A visit to the group’s website reveals the following information: The Troops of Saint George (TSG) is a fraternal Catholic nonprofit apostolate for priests, men, and young men looking for a life... Read more

‘Sacred speech and spiritual conversation are in decline’

Last updated on: October 15, 2018 at 12:02 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From Jonathan Merritt, writing in The New York Times: More than 70 percent of Americans identify as Christian, but you wouldn’t know it from listening to them. An overwhelming majority of people say that they don’t feel comfortable speaking about faith, most of the time. During the Great Depression, the playwright Thornton Wilder remarked, “The revival in religion will be a rhetorical problem — new persuasive words for defaced or degraded ones.” Wilder knew that during times of rapid social... Read more

Cupich: Bishops must cede some rights for the sake of accountability

Last updated on: October 15, 2018 at 11:08 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

From La Stampa: Individual Catholic bishops across the United States must renounce some of the supreme authority they have over their dioceses to allow for the creation of a new national body to investigate misconduct allegations, Chicago Cardinal Cupich said. When the U.S. bishops meet in November to consider the continuing clergy sexual abuse crisis, Cupich said the prelates “have to be very clear about an accountability procedure for accusations about bishops.” “Bishops have to, as a group, say, ’We... Read more

Just do it: the beautiful will and determination of Justin Gallegos, Nike’s first athlete with CP

Last updated on: October 14, 2018 at 2:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

His story: Nike has signed Justin Gallegos as the sportswear brand’s first professional athlete with cerebral palsy — and a new video shows the emotional moment that the runner got the news. Gallegos, a runner on the club team at the University of Oregon, had just finished up a race when John Douglass, Nike’s insights director, surprised him with a contract, Yahoo! Sports reported. In Elevation 0m’s video, Douglass says to a group of runners, “I just wanted to share something with you guys. One of your... Read more

‘Rather than listening, too many in our world have perfected the art of being deaf…’

Last updated on: October 14, 2018 at 10:14 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

From Bridgeport’s Bishop Frank Caggiano, writing on Facebook yesterday. He is taking part in the Synod now unfolding in Rome: I am grateful to everyone who submitted suggested advice for the Synod Fathers. I am grateful for the many responses that you sent in and have begun to review them carefully. I hope to bring many of your insights into the small group discussions scheduled in the next ten days. Your large number of suggestions illustrate the deep desire for... Read more

Francis visits Benedict before canonizing Oscar Romero, Paul VI

Last updated on: October 14, 2018 at 8:42 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

This photo was released Saturday by Vatican Media with the notation: The Pope’s visit to Benedict XVI came on the eve of the Canonization Mass during which Pope Paul VI, Archbishop Oscar Romero and five others were elevated to Sainthood. Benedict XVI was created a Cardinal by Pope Paul VI during his last Consistory on 27 June 1977. On 27 April 2014, the Pope Emeritus concelebrated the Canonization Mass presided over by Pope Francis, of his predecessors John Paul II and John XXIII:... Read more

WATCH: Freed pastor Andrew Brunson prays with President Trump in the Oval Office

Last updated on: October 13, 2018 at 9:52 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Here’s something you don’t see every day. The New York Times reports: President Trump welcomed home on Saturday an American pastor freed by Turkey and said the release would improve relations with Ankara, but he denied any connection to the dispute between Turkey and Saudi Arabia over the missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. With television cameras on hand to record the event, Mr. Trump invited the pastor, Andrew Brunson, to the Oval Office roughly an hour after he had landed... Read more